Improvement in camp-trunks



tion, I will now proceed showing an adjustable PATENT OFFICE.

L. H. MILLER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

VIMPROVEMENT IN CAMP-TRUNKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,398, dated October i, 1861.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, L. H. MILLER, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying draw.- ings,which constitute apart of this my specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicating the same parts in the several iigures.

lA cheap and conveniently portable camptrunk, and one easily adjusted into the several conditions of use required in camp life, has long been a military necessity, and yet not accomplished,V as l believe, until my invention thereof, and which, to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invento describe, as required by statute.

My invention relates to a camp or military trunk which by its peculiar organization is convertible at will either into a dining-table, a writing-desk, a cot-bedstead, or a travel ing trunk, as may be desired.

Figure l represents the apparatus folded into the form ot a traveling trunk. Fig. 2 represents the trunk converted into a dining-table and partly convertedint-o a writing desk or table. Fig. 3 represents the trunk fully unfolded into a cot or camp bedstead. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 3,

canvas cloth or covering extending over the main sections of the trunk, and which under certain circumstances is used when the sections composing the mattress-bed, as shown in position in Fig. 3, are dispensed with, as will be hereinafter described. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 5, showing the means and Inode of holding the mosquito-frames in a rigid upright position at the same time that the two cent-ral sections are held in a rigid horizontal position.`

a, b, c, and d designate the main sections of the apparatus, the upper main section, as shown in Fig. l, being subdivided into a lower main apartment, as at a, and an upper minor apartment, as at d', which minor apartment is for the purpose of holding the ordinary eXtra clothing of a soldier, and is hinged in rear and secured in front to the main section ce by well-known means. The central sections b and c are each made with additional under apartments g, (see Fig. 5,) which admit of legs f being hinged therein, as shown, and which legs, four in number, (one of them not shown in the drawings) when not in use can be folded up within said apartments g.

q q q q represent a mattress formed in sec? tions to fit into main sections c, b, c, and d, and are so shown in position for use as abcd 'in Fig.

e e e e, Fig. 4I, are the bottoms of the said main sections, and constitute, when the trunk is fully unfolded into a position to form a cotbedstead,a continuous uninterruptedfounda; tion, without the removal or addition of any other parts, upon which to place the mattress. t', Fig. et', is a canvas covering permanently attached to the inside of the lower end of main section d, and may be secured for use upon hooks projecting from the upper end of main section ce and by hooks projecting from the sides of the several main sections, as shown in side and end view in Figli; or said canvas may be divided into sectional. pieces or parts to correspond with the several main sections a b c d and permanently attached to one of the sides of said mainsections and secured when in use by hooks proj ectiug from the opposite side of said main sections, thus in either case forming a covering to a space h, as shown in last-named ligure, which spa-ce, when it is desirable, may be iilled with straw or' other like material in lieu of the mattress. (Shown in position in Fig. 3.)

Among the wants of a camp-life and the changes incident thereto it frequently becomes an object of no little importance to economize as much of the available room ol' a camp-trunk as it is possible for the purpose of transporting extra clothing and other articles of the camp. Besides this, should the army be quartered in a very hot climate it becomes a matter of health Jfor the soldier to sleep upon as cool a bed as possible. ltherefore, in order to meet these contingencies, have so devised my trunk that the sectional mattress may be transported and used for a bed, or so that the mattress may be entirely dispensed with and thus utilize the room occupied by it, and in its place provide the means by which an ordinary straw bed maybe used. As seen in Fig. l, the apparatus is inthe form of a trunk. As seen in Fig. 2, the trunk may 2 :rases be used as a camp dining-table, the furniture without elevating the framej, said frame may a on a button. secured to the top of framej,

of the table being placed upon the bottom e be turned down, as shown in red in Fig. 5, and of main sect-ion d, and by turning down said the rigid horizontal position of sections band section d, so that it will be on the same horic still be preserved by passing the hook 7c Zontal plane withv niain section c, the apparaover the piu m. n tus may then be conveniently used as a writ- I would here remark that in case of cxpoing desk or table, the operator sitting upon sure to storms a canvas covering will be resection c and placing' his writing materials quired to be thrown over the said frames in on top of the minor section a. lieu of amosquito-bar, in which case the jj are two mosquito-frames, one of them 'l rigidity ot the frames in an upright position attached (jointed) to main section u, the other l becomes a matter of prime importance for the to main section b. They are so attached to protection of the occupant of the bed. said last-named sections as to turn down into The iiap n (seen in Fig. l) serves the purthe apartments formed in sections a and b, pose of concealing and protecting the conandare shown turned down (by red lines) in Fig. 5. W hen elevated, as shown in Figs. 3, et, l hold together the several sections when and 5, they are held rigidly in such position i folded, and also serves the triple function ot' by the following' means: holding in an upright rigid position framej. In rear offthe lower end of the tramej I The rear ot the trunk is also protected by secure a projecting-pin m to the side ot secstrips of leather nailed to the main sections, tion b, with a head or shoulder at the outer and is also suitably provided Withahook and end of said pin. I also secure in a suitable staple to assist in holding together the several manner a hook 7c to the side of main section sections when in a folded state, as shown in c, and so that'it. may engage with a staple or Fig. l. eye s, Figs. 3, et, and 5, driven into one or Atull-sized trunk n eed not exceed twentyboth ofthe uprights of said frame j. By these three inches in height, twenty-four inches'in meanswhen the frame] is elevated,as shown length, and eighteen and a half inches in in the figures, it abuts againstthepin m, and width and still subserve all the purposes for is there held rigidly in an upright position b v which it is designed. hook It in staple s. It will be observed that I claimthe same means which thus hold the framej In combinations, with the main sections d,

tents of sections b and c, as Well as serves toV in a rigid upright position also hold the secg b, c, and CZ and minor section o', the tramesI tions b and c in a rigid horizontal position. The frainej is held in a rigid upright position bysecuring the strap o of the leather flap j and j and their locking appara-tus, constructed and operated in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

as clearly shownin perspective and sectional L' H' MILLER' views in Figs. 3 and 4, thus drawing framej "Witnesses: iirmly against part o of section a. It, how- `W. 'I.ADREON, ever, it is desirable to use the cot-bedstead VILLIAM ADREON. 

